Stemware is available in a variety of shapes and sizes and may be used for purposes such as carrying, serving, or drinking beverages. For example when consuming wine, champagne, beer, brandy, or cocktails, stemware is often used not only as means for drinking such a beverage, but also as a means of increasing the rate of oxidation and inducing heightened aromas.
One of stemware's uses is in the consumption of wine, where it is generally recognized that olfactory, visual and taste characteristics of any given wine are best displayed and best judged in a traditional transparent wine glass. Conventional wine glasses typically have a foot, a stem, and a bowl defining an interior volume where the bowl is of a parabolic shape.
Stemware glasses are available in many different shapes and sizes, and frequently the shape and size is dependent upon the liquid intended to be served using the particular stemware glass. For instance, stemware glasses for red wine typically have a bowl with a larger diameter than those stemware glasses used for white wine. One reason for this is because a stemware glass with a larger diameter bowl provides a larger surface area for the liquid in the bowl to interact with oxygen in the air, this process being commonly known as oxidation. Oxidation is generally considered to be desirable when drinking red wine because the complex flavors, oils, and spices present in red wine mature and meld after being exposed to air. In contrast, the bowl of many white wine glasses is narrower than that of red wine glasses which reduces the rate of oxidation. Reducing the rate of oxidation is generally thought to aid in containing the crisp, clean flavor that many white wines possess. Beyond the noticeable differences between the typical red wine stemware glass and a white wine stemware glass, other drinks customarily consumed from stemware glasses are designed to enhance the consumers' olfactory, visual, and taste senses during consumption such as champagne flutes, sherry glasses, brandy snifters, beer tulips, and beer goblets.
Stemware can be made of many different materials including transparent materials and opaque materials. Typically, stemware is made of transparent glass which allows the user of such stemware to visually inspect the color and clarity of the liquid that fills the bowl of such a stemware glass. Blown glass, fused glass and lead crystal are a just a few examples of materials of which stemware is made. Unfortunately, glass is breakable and one of the drawbacks to using glass stemware is its fragile nature where even a relatively minor impact of setting the stemware glass down or a hard surface may cause the stem to break separating the foot from the bowl making the glass unusable.
As another example, when consuming beer, the shape of the stemware will affect foam development and retention. The foam or head created by pouring beer into the stemware bowl acts as a net for compounds that evaporate from the beer to create its aroma, such as hop oils, yeast, fermentation byproducts, fusels, fruity esters, or other additives.
Further, the shape of stemware, including the narrowed upper flume, inherently precludes stacking of multiple glasses for space efficient storage. There exists, therefore, a need to make further improvements to many of the various forms of stemware which allows stemware to be more easily stored, protects stemware from damage during storage and transport, and stemware which can utilize replacement and customization parts all without sacrificing the benefits that stemware gives when consuming beverages. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further related advantages.
My invention does not reside in any one of the identified features individually but rather in the synergistic combination of all of its structures, which give rise to the functions necessarily flowing therefrom as hereinafter specified and claimed.